Initial Psychometric Properties of a Brief Parent-Report Instrument for Assessing Tic Severity in Children with Chronic Tic Disorders

This article describes the development and initial psychometric properties of the Parent Tic Questionnaire (PTQ)—a new measure assessing the number, frequency, and intensity of motor and vocal tics in children and adolescents with Chronic Tic Disorder (CTD). Parents of 40 children with a CTD completed the PTQ as part of a larger assessment battery. Results show the PTQ to have excellent internal consistency and good to excellent 2-week test-retest reliability. The motor tic severity subscale, vocal tic severity subscale, and total severity score of the PTQ correlated highly with the corresponding scales of the gold-standard clinician-rated Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), indicating excellent convergent validity. Correlations between the YGTSS and PTQ remained strong after controlling for measures of obsessive-compulsive disorder and inattention, suggesting good discriminant validity. The PTQ is a promising supplement to current methods for assessing tic severity and further research on the validity, reliability, and clinical utility of the scale are warranted.     

Semantic context effects in the comprehension of reduced pronunciation variants

Listeners require context to understand the highly reduced words that occur in casual speech. The present study reports four auditory lexical decision experiments in which the role of semantic context in the comprehension of reduced versus unreduced speech was investigated. Experiments 1 and 2 showed semantic priming for combinations of unreduced, but not reduced, primes and low-frequency targets. In Experiment 3, we crossed the reduction of the prime with the reduction of the target. Results showed no semantic priming from reduced primes, regardless of the reduction of the targets. Finally, Experiment 4 showed that reduced and unreduced primes facilitate upcoming low-frequency related words equally if the interstimulus interval is extended. These results suggest that semantically related words need more time to be recognized after reduced primes, but once reduced primes have been fully (semantically) processed, these primes can facilitate the recognition of upcoming words as well as do unreduced primes.     

Women’s Experience of Telehealth Cancer Genetic Counseling

Telegenetics offers an alternative model of delivering genetic counseling to rural and outreach areas; however there is a dearth of qualitative research into the patient’s experience. Twelve women who had received telemedicine genetic counseling for hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer (HBOC) within the previous 12 months participated in a semi-structured telephone interview. The interview explored women’s experience with telegenetics, satisfaction, perceived advantages and disadvantages and quality of the interaction with their genetic professionals. Overall women were highly satisfied with telegenetics. Telegenetics offered them convenience and reduced travel and associated costs. The majority of women described feeling a high degree of social presence, or rapport, with the off-site genetic clinician. One woman with a recent cancer diagnosis, reported that telemedicine was unable to meet her needs for psychosocial support. This finding highlights the need to be mindful of the psychosocial support needs of women with a recent diagnosis being seen via telegenetics. Patients attending for HBOC genetic counseling are generally highly satisfied with the technology and the interaction. Care should be taken, however, with patients with more complex psychosocial needs.     

Behavior Therapy for Tics via Videoconference Delivery: An Initial Pilot Test in Children

Habit reversal training (HRT) has been proven effective for reducing tics in children with Tourette's syndrome (TS). However, the availability of the intervention is limited. Videoconference technology represents a promising mode through which HRT may be disseminated to underserved areas. Using a multiple-baseline across participants design, the current study tested the effectiveness of videoconference-delivered HRT for 3 children with TS. Similar to results from randomized controlled trials studying face-to-face delivered HRT, videoconference-delivered HRT was effective for reducing tics. All three children demonstrated significant tic reduction following videoconference HRT delivery. All participants and their families rated the delivery modality as acceptable and the therapeutic relationship as strong. These results suggest that videoconference delivery may be a promising method for disseminating behavior therapy for tics.     

Predictors of Risky and Precautionary Sexual Behaviors Among Single and Married White Women1

Risky and precautionary sexual behaviors were examined in a community sample of 260 single and married/cohabitating White women. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the ability of age, socioeconomic status (SES), marital status, religiosity, and 9 health belief constructs to predict risky sexual behavior with one's partner, using a barrier method of birth control, unintended pregnancies, and number of sexual partners in the past year. The pattern of results suggests that single White women appear to feel more vulnerable to HIV and STD infection and more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than do married White women. The discussion focuses on the importance of sociocultural factors in understanding risk behaviors within the social context of relationship status, the complexity of the concept of risk reduction, and the need for going beyond the health belief model in order to develop different HIV prevention strategies for single and married White women.     

Reducing Psychological Distress in a Genetic Counseling Consultation for Breast Cancer

High levels of cancer specific distress have been found before and after genetic counseling for breast cancer. This study investigated the process of reducing distress during 111 genetic counseling consultations for familial breast cancer. Consultations were audiotaped, transcribed, and a detailed coding system developed to measure cues of emotional distress from the patient, and consultant (clinical geneticist or genetic counselor) behaviors before and after the cues. At least 1 emotional cue was given in 64 consultations, with a median of 1 cue per consultation. More emotional cues of distress occurred when the consultant responded empathetically to the first cue of distress. Satisfaction outcomes were largely positive regardless of the consultant's attentiveness to distress. Postconsultation depression scores were significantly reduced if more empathic responses were given, but anxiety remained the same. These results are discussed and recommendations are made for improving patient care.     

The Unmet Information and Support Needs of Women with a Family History of Breast Cancer: A Descriptive Survey

This study aims to survey the unmet support needs of women at increased risk of developing breast cancer. In total, 173 unaffected women with a family history of breast cancer completed a 28-item purposely-designed mailed survey. The majority of participants did not report a high level of unmet need for support. Receiving further information about cancer genetics was the most commonly reported area of unmet need. Only about 20% of participants reported a moderate to high degree of interest in attending a hypothetical support group. However, a higher degree of interest was expressed in internet-based information and supportive interventions. Amongst those interested in attending a support group, discussion, and receiving further information were the most preferred activities. Higher levels of unmet support needs were significantly associated with interest in attending groups. No demographic variables were found to predict interest in attending a support group. Implications for those considering establishing support groups are discussed.     

The Social Roles Questionnaire: A New Approach to Measuring Attitudes Toward Gender

Innovative research is constrained by instruments that assume gender to be captured by dichotomous categories. This article presents the results of two studies that document the psychometric properties of the Social Roles Questionnaire (SRQ), a new measure of gender role attitudes. A social constructivist perspective guided the development of the instrument that was designed not only to capture the diversity in people’s thinking about social roles for men and women, but also to identify attitudes that transcend binary categories. The article details the process of assessing reliability and validity based on data from 414 undergraduates. Findings revealed the SRQ is reliable and valid and that women were more likely than men to endorse egalitarian and gender transcendent beliefs. Additional possible uses of the SRQ are discussed.     

Reviving the Mainline: An Overview of Clergy Support for Evangelical Renewal Movements

Evangelical renewal movements (ERMs) are proliferating in the old Protestant mainline and they show few signs of splitting from their parent denominations. Ironically, the very theological pluralism that ERMs seek to eliminate has provided an opportunity for their entry and a barrier for their expulsion. This essay offers an introduction to the evangelical movements arising in the mainline and reports the initial findings from a survey of United Methodist clergy's involvement in ERMs. As expected, United Methodist clergy are predominantly older, white males leading small congregations. Surprisingly, however, fully 29 percent of the clergy do not have a seminary degree and more than half of those with seminary degrees did not attend United Methodist-affiliated schools—with 22 percent attending an evangelical seminary. The clergy involved in ERMs are younger, more likely to have attended evangelical seminaries (or no seminary at all), and hold more exclusive Christian beliefs. The survey also found that the once isolated evangelical clergy of the United Methodist Church are now embedded in evangelical associations and hold friendships with other evangelical clergy. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Emerging Adult Risky Sexual Behavior Predicted by Parental Overprotection: Moderated Mediation Analysis

Parental control behaviors are suggested to be related to emerging adult outcomes, such as risky sexual behavior. Although parental control behaviors are more likely to be considered protective against risky sexual behavior, the relation between parental overprotection and risky sexual behavior is unclear. Furthermore, parental overprotection may influence peer selection and prosocial behaviors in emerging adults, which may in turn influence outcomes of risky sexual behavior, as suggested by primary socialization theory. Thus, the current study investigated the relations among paternal and maternal overprotection, emerging adult peer alienation, and risky sexual behavior, and expanded on these relations by examining gender effects of both parents and children. The sample consisted of 505 participants (228 males and 277 females) ranging in age from 18 to 25 years. Analyses were conducted with AMOS path analysis and indicated that peer alienation mediated the effect between both maternal and paternal perceived overprotection and risky sexual behavior, but more strongly for males, suggesting moderated mediation. Overall, parental overprotection may be protective against risky sexual behavior via pathways that are harmful such as peer alienation, thus recommending research continues to clarify the nuances of these relations.